SUP hunting

[Dr.P]

Well, it's not quite kayak diving, but I suppose this is the best place to post it up. I have kayaks and paddle boards (and a real boat for that matter), but I kept thinking that a SUP really would rule for spotting fish and otherwise ease of use for bay hunting (Gulf Coast of Florida). So, I threw this little prototype together. I know people have used touring boards before, but I really prefer getting places quickly, so I wanted to give it a shot with a true race SUP. This is a 12'6" that I got for free and basically just built up with random stuff I had laying around plus about $20 of epoxy and hardware.



It easily carries dive gear, an anchor, large diver down flag, water, safety gear, GoPro, and a 50L cooler.




For my money, this is the most rewarding way that I've found to hunt yet. I can actually get out to spots way quicker than I can with a boat, because I can drop the board in anywhere I want. The gear travels with the board, so there's really nothing of a loading and unloading process, except to throw my gun and fins on. Plus, you get a good workout and a great waterman vibe. ...but when I said that it "easily" carries the gear, I think that was probably something of an overstatement. This board was shaped for a 130 pound girl, and I'm paddling it at about twice that once loaded with fish. I wanted to prove concept with this one, and I'm looking to build a proper 17-18 foot unlimited rig next. But for now, this thing rocks.